Field of the Embodiments
This application relates to the technical field of toilet menu control panels used in the operations of a smart toilet, more specifically to an improved way to activate the toilet menu options control function buttons without physically contacting the menu button.
Background of the Embodiments
Toilet control panel device function activation buttons can become contaminated by germs, during user hand contact with the control buttons. The bacteria can travel from the panel buttons, and be transmitted to a person's hands, Hands may then spread the bacteria and viruses to the person's mouth, to other surfaces, to other people, and to food, thereby increasing the risk of food poisoning, and transfer of diseases. Many people don't like to touch buttons, that have bacteria on them. Toilet remote control touch buttons and touch display faces have the problem of accumulating germs.
Some people try to wrap toilet paper around their hand, before touching the control panel buttons, in an effort to try to put an anti-bacterial barrier between the buttons and their hand. The toilet paper barrier is ineffective since bacteria can easily travel through toilet paper. People may try to use a piece of clothing, such as a part of a shirt sleeve as a barrier between the button and the hand. The shirt sleeve may act as a barrier; thought bacteria can attach to the user's shirt sleeve. Disposable rubber gloves may be effective in using the buttons sanitarily, though people may not like to carry and use rubber gloves.
To raise or lower the toilet seat, some people try to use their foot or shoe; this has drawbacks, such as the possibility of losing one's balance and falling. It also requires a certain amount of skill, to stand on one leg, and use the other leg to position the seat.
Infrared seat lifting systems have been used to control toilet device operations. The iTouchless company and the Bottoms up company make infrareds non touch toilet seat and lid lifting systems. Though infrared systems have been used to activate the toilet seat and lid, they haven't been used to control he multitude of other toilet devices such as the bidet, bidet water temperature, and bottom air dryer. Infrared systems also may be limited to on or off operation of device functions. Infrared analog behavior may be difficult such as incrementally increasing the temperature of the bidet water spray on a scale of 1 to 10.
Several Satis toilets made by the Lixil Corporation of Tokyo, Japan, use a smart phone blue tooth connection to Satis smart toilet, to activate the various toilets' devices. Smart phone toilet icon buttons are used to control the toilet device functions. Physical touch is needed to activate the buttons. Thought a person could have their own private cell phone, the user still has to physically touch the buttons. The touching of the buttons may be a path way for bacterial transmission.
Wireless Bluetooth remote control, liquid crystal display panels are used to influence a toilet functions, such as a toilet remote control display and toilet made by the Kohler Company. The Brondell Company of San Francisco, Calif., uses a hand held remote control which uses an infrared connection to a smart toilet seat, to control the toilet seats functions.
A Samsung Galaxy 4 made be by the Samsung Company of Seoul, South Korea uses a touch free capacitive field to allow a user to hover above the display screen, and control the displayed pages by swiping their hand back and forth, which moves the pages back and forth. The user can also answer the phone by waving your hand over the screen. Air View allows a user to hover their finger over certain items on the phone display to get a displayed preview Smart Pause tracks the user's eyes and stops any video their watching, if you look away
The Xperia sola from Sony includes Floating touch technology. Air Gestures: Refers to hand movements made above the phone's display, without coming into contact with the display that controls the phone. Common gestures include waving your hand over the display to skip a track or waving left and right to switch between open web pages in the browser. The technology makes it possible for the smartphone to detect a finger up to 20 mm above the screen Eye-tracking uses the camera to lock onto the motion of the eyes, following wherever they move. With it, the phone can perceive where the user is looking, and can respond to a set of behaviors; let's say a very intentional movement to scroll a Web page up and down, or a long, purposeful blink to click. The user can also answer the phone or skip a track just by waving your hand over the screen. Air View allows the user to hover their finger over certain items on the phone to get a preview. Smart Pause” tracks your face and stops any video you're watching if you look away. The Samsung Galaxy 4 smart phone uses a touch free capacitive field to allow a user to interact with the phone while hovering above the display screen.
Apple Company uses voice recognition called Siri for touch free verbal interaction with the iPhone smart phone. The Xbox connected to the Xbox Kinect made by the Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., uses skeletal mapping of a user, to interact touch freely with avatars on a television screen. The Tobii Corporation of Danderyd, Sweden uses eye tracking software and hardware to allow a user to touch freely control the interaction of a computer display. The Leap motion company of San Francisco, Calif. uses three dimensional (3D) user hand interaction employs touch free user interaction with displayed virtual devices.
Several types of hands free toilet seat rising and lowering devices have been proposed, for example, Baumoel in, U.S. Pat. No. 7,917,973 (2011) shows an infrared hands free system, for lifting and lowering a toilet seat. Mechanical force devices, such as, Borochov and Gitelis, U.S. Pat. No. 8,020,221 (2011) uses a pneumatic toilet seat lifting device, which uses foot force to activate the toilet seat lifting device. The draw backs, with such a system, are a user needs to physically find the foot lever, and with their foot apply force. Veals, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,524 uses an electric switch to activate, the raising and lowering of a toilet seat, one disadvantage, is the user needs to locate the switch with their foot, and physically contact the switch.
Fuhuan Chen's Intelligent Toilet Seat with Voice Control System, bibliographical data Cn201202168 (Y)-2009-03-04, application number (CN) (y) CN20082370552U uses voice recognition to control a smart toilet. Though there is no user toilet control panel display, for the user to interact with the smart toilet. Kenneth R. Lindsey, Cynthia Kaelin, Christopher A. Cooper, Voice activated liquid management system U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,717 B1, publication date 13 Nov. 2001 use's voice recognition to control the water flow of toilet devices such, faucet, shower, toilet flush, etc. The voice recognition doesn't control toilet devices.
More toilet seat lifting devices are shown in the following patents. Title: Hands Free Toilet Seat System, U.S. Pat. No. 7,636,956, issue date 2009-12-29, assignee Doucet, Shery, hands free toilet seat, lifting and lowering systems, uses an infrared system. A disadvantage with infrared systems is that physical movements are needed, to control the system. Infrared systems may be inadvertently activated if a user gets too close to the infrared sensor. Though such toilet seat lifting devices have achieved considerable popularity, and commercial success, there has been a continuing need for improvement.
An anonymous author writing on the Wikipedia website, In an article titled, Japan Toilets, sub title Advanced Features “a toilet company is working, on a “Another recent innovation is intelligent sensors that detect someone standing in front of the toilet and initiate an automatic raising of the lid (if the person is facing away from the toilet) or the lid and seat together (if someone is facing the toilet)”. The author doesn't elaborate on the kind of sensors used, or if a computer is used. There is a problem for the user if they are facing away from the toilet seat in visually judging the up adown position of the seat.
Defects of other devices, is that, physical presence movement is required near a sensor to operate them. Infrared sensor systems may activate movement of the toilet seat inadvertently. Infrared systems may be negatively affected by sun light
Many of the touch panel toilet device function buttons heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages:
(a) Bacteria can be transferred from the menu buttons to the user's hands when they touch the control panel buttons to activate the toilet devices.
(b) It may be difficult for the user to access the area where are control panel is located, so they can touch the panels buttons.
(c) Physically challenged users may have a difficulty touching the control panel buttons.
(d) It may be difficult to clean and remove bacteria from mechanical buttons, the buttons are difficult to clean and bacteria may build up on the buttons.
Some advantages of a touch free display control panel are bacteria and viruses are unable to be transmitted to the user's hands. By limiting hand contact with the bacteria and viruses that are on the panel, flushing handle, seat and lid. The transmission of bacteria and viruses to the hands is substantially reduced. The touch free control panel lowers the amount of bacteria that is transmitted from the toilet seat to hands, which lowers the amount of bacteria that is transmitted to the user, by hands to mouth transmission. By lowering the quantity of bacteria on the user's hands, this limits the amount of bacteria traveling from hands to food. Touch free interaction limits the bacteria on hands which limits the amount of bacterial transmission from hands to other surfaces, and transmission from hands to other people. Touch free interaction lowers the cross contamination of bacteria and viruses, from toilet to other surfaces. Lowering the cross contamination of bacteria and viruses, from the control panel and toilet seat to the user's hands, lessens peoples exposure to food poisoning, and disease pathogens
Service sectors that are highly concerned about hygiene, such as the food industry, restaurants, medical industry, hospitals, health works, may be interested in hands free toilet panels and toilet seats. Combining hands free toil seats, with washlet bidets that use water to clean a user's bottom, a warm air dryer to dry the user's bottom, greatly reduces the need to use toilet paper, which may reduce the amount of bacteria the user to may be in contact with.
Signs asking employees to wash their hand after going to the toilet, may be less pressing, since workers contact with control panel, seat, and flushing handle would be greatly reduced. Progress in toilet panel cleanliness increases people's psychical wellbeing, and mental wellbeing, by having a safer bathroom environment. Decreasing sickness caused by bacterial contamination increases productivity, and work space contentment. Physically challenged users can access the toilet control panel without having to touch the buttons.
There are many ways to touch freely interact with the toilet display control panel for example using, voice recognition, fingers hovering above the display in a capacitive field, eye tracking, etc., or a combination of the different touch free devices used together.
The touch free panel, can control toilet devices, such as, a lid positioning motor, a seat positioning motor, a heated seat, a bottom air dryer blower, a bidet front wash, a bidet back wash, a toilet flush device, a bidet wand forward and backward mover, a seat massage, an air purifier, a stop button, an internet connection, a music player, etc.
Advantages
The advantages of the touch free toilet control panel, include, without limitation, are an improved touch free toilet control panel. From the ensuing description, a number of advantages of some of the embodiments of the touch free toilet control display become evident.
(a) Bacteria or viruses aren't transferred to the user when the user touch freely activates the touch free toilet control panel menu icons
(b) The non touch panel allows for easy interaction with the control panel for medically, mobility challenged users
(c) The non touch panel may aid disabled users.
(d) The touch free user input systems may be more versatile, user friendly, simpler and easier to use, then other systems, they only needs non touch user input to operate.
(e) The toilet seat assembly reduces the need to bend over to position the seat, which may be helpful for disabled or elderly users.
(f) It may be fun and enjoyable to converse with the system, using voice recognition, through the microphone and speaker interface, listening to greetings, prompts, and talking with the system. This conversing, may lead to a positive bonding between the user and the apparatus.
(g) The touch free panel may lower interpersonal relationship tension, between users. To avoid touching the seat, users may ask other users to lower the seat after use. Being able to position the seat and lid using non touch input, removes the need for users to communicate their desired seat position to each other, thus reducing friction between users, and possibly creating a more harmonious environment.
(i) The user can touch freely access the internet, to allow for the timely import of information and data, which the user can visually and verbally access the internet and visually and aurally receive internet content. The display can show internet information, such as videos, videophone calls, internet TV
(j) Voice recognition can operates the seat and lids movements voice recognition combined with the display can highlight and active displayed chosen toilet seat functions.
(k) A though control headset using a humans thoughts, can be used to activate displayed chosen toilet device functions.
(m) The user can touch freely leave video messages on the display for other users.
(n) The user's touch free body movements can highlight and activate displayed chosen toilet seat functions, such as, position of the seat and lid, and operate the system functions.
(o) The user's touch free eye movements can highlight and activate displayed chosen toilet seat functions.
(p) The user's touch free floating touch can highlight and activate displayed chosen toilet seat functions.
(q) The user's touch free body gestures can highlight and activate displayed chosen toilet seat functions, such as, position of the seat and lid, and operate the system functions.
(r) The user's touch free floating touch can highlight and activate displayed chosen toilet seat functions.
(s) The user's touch free three dimensional interactions with a displayed avatar, can highlight and activate displayed chosen toilet seat.
(t) The user's touch free floating touch can highlight and activate displayed chosen toilet seat functions.
Accordingly several advantages are to provide an improved hands free toilet control panel, as a means of providing a more sanitary, fun, and healthy experience, for a person. Still further advantages will become apparent from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings. Various embodiments of touch free control panels allow a user to control the various toilet devices without touching the control panel display. The capabilities and functions of the touch free toilet control panel bring the future of sanitary bathroom practices and advances, to the present now.